[nickbauman]

Are you aware the US criminal justice system is oriented towards profiteering on incarceration and hardly or not at all oriented toward rehabilitation? The percent of GDP that the criminal justice system takes up compared to other OECD nations is the smoking gun. Its modern "American-style" slavery.

[Zigurd]

And if you are wondering how America "outperforms" Europe in GDP growth while lagging in quality of life measures, there you have it. Our GDP is going into military, prisons, cops, financialization, and overpaying for health care. All that counts on the plus side of the GDP ledger.